RE: Of Daguerrotypes and madness....

Gregory Walker (gwalker@netcom.com)
Fri, 8 Mar 1996 09:15:42 -0600

> I am heavily involved with large format picture taking and am
>interested in experimenting with Daguerrotypes. That is, making them...
>probably from scratch.
>
> I have been avidly searching for literature on the chemicals
>required and the general techniques but haven't come up with anything. Do
>any of you have Daguerrotye FAQ's, books to recomend, web sites, or just
>plain old advice? I would greatly appreciate your help.

It is generally agreed that the best 19th century book on making daguerreotypes
is Samuel D. Humphrey's "American Handbook of the Daguerreotype." It is
available online at my "Digital Daguerreian Archive" WWW site at:

http://www.webcom.com/gwalker/digidag/

The traditional process uses a silver plate, polished to mirror smoothness, and
then sensitized with the vapors of iodine and bromine. It is then developed with
mercury vapor, fixed in thiosulphate, and toned with a fairly standard gold toner.
All of the vapors are toxic, though mercury has the worst reputation because it tends
to accumulate in the body and causes chronic poisoning.

However, it is possible to make good-looking daguerreotypes using only iodine
as a sensitizer and developing by long exposure to red light! This is called
Becquerel development. The technique is described in "Becquerel Development
in a New Light" by Gerald Megan, in the 1991 Annual of the Daguerreian Society.

Cheers,
Gregory Walker
Digital Daguerreian Archive -- http://www.webcom.com/gwalker/digidag/
"Electronic Texts from the Dawn of Photography"